Essays on the Red Maple Ancient Road

In late autumn, every time I read blogs or read WeChat, almost every day someone is posting beautiful articles and pictures about the ancient red maple road, showing off the ancient vicissitudes of the ancient road, the colorful maple forest, and the fiery red maple leaves. , magnificent. Everyone has a love for beauty. I can't resist the temptation of beauty, my heart is itching, and I look forward to standing on the plain ancient road, under the red maple forest, to appreciate the ancient road and maple forest reflecting the brilliance, the frost leaves dancing with the autumn wind. Natural beauty. My wish came true. At the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, I finally got my wish. I was fortunate enough to have a close encounter with the famous Wenchengdaling Red Maple Trail.

Wencheng County, located in the corner of southern Zhejiang, was formed in 1946 from the border areas of Ruian, Qingtian and Taishun counties. It is a mountainous county with "eight mountains, one water and one farmland". The county name is "Wencheng" "Taken from the posthumous title of Liu Ji (also known as Bowen, born in Wencheng Nantian), the founding father of the Ming Dynasty. In ancient times, in order to connect to the outside world, the Wencheng mountain people opened some mountain trails in the deep mountains. The Da Da Ling Ancient Trail is the most classic one. The foot of the ridge can reach Taishun, Ruian, Pingyang, and the head of the ridge can reach Jingning, Yunhe, Longquan and other places. It was an important transportation hub at that time. It is said that there are still more than 60 complete ancient roads remaining in Wencheng. These ancient roads pass through mountains and ridges, and the red maples and red leaves along the way are either majestic, wild, full of fire, or elegant and pretty, all of which are graceful and unique. A famous expert once praised: "The ancient red maple road is rare in the south of the Yangtze River. It is not easy to survive and can be called a beautiful scene."

At eight o'clock in the morning, despite the strong autumn wind and low temperature, the warm sunshine has already spread all over the earth. , when the weather is good when traveling, my mood is naturally a little more joyful. However, good things come soon. As soon as we entered the expressway toll gate 20 meters away, the car stopped after a few breaths. No matter how we manipulated it, it still went its own way and just refused to get up and hit the road. He anxiously contacted the car repair shop. After checking the car, the two repairmen who arrived late determined that the car was terminally ill and required hospitalization. In desperation, he had no choice but to plead with the expressway toll station. The car finally exited the expressway from the toll channel and was pushed to the side of the road to seek medical treatment.

It took two hours to change cars and hit the road again. When we arrived at Daxi Town, Wencheng County, it was already lunch time. Borrowing a place from Wencheng's friend, he set up a table with meat dishes, vegetarian dishes, noodles, fruits, and drinks that he had brought with him. The companions gathered around and feasted on each other, saving enough calories for the afternoon trip.

It only takes more than 20 minutes to drive from Daxi Town to the Daduling Red Maple Ancient Trail. The road to the scenic spot is busy and noisy. Near the ancient road, I saw that the open space on the mountainside and both sides of the road were filled with vehicles of all sizes, and there was nowhere to insert pins. As the traffic continued to move forward, it took a full mile or two to find a place for the car to stay.

Abandoning the car and walking upstream, we arrived at the entrance of the Hongfeng Ancient Road. What greeted us leisurely was a single-hole stone arch bridge, flying over the stream with a graceful arc arch. This bridge, named Huiji Bridge, was rebuilt in the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924). It is 28 meters long, 3.75 meters wide, and has a clear span of 13 meters. The bridge deck is paved with stone slabs, and the bridge body and arches are made of rocks. Dry vines hang on both sides of the stone bridge, swaying in the autumn wind, adding a bit of vicissitudes and loneliness to the plain old bridge.

There is a simple ridge-foot pavilion on the right side of Huiji Bridge. There is a plaque of the Red Maple Ancient Road above the pavilion. The ancient roads in Wencheng are all named after red maples, and there is a reason for this. The maple tree is the most popular road protection tree in the local area because it has deep roots and a hard material. It is difficult to lodging and die prematurely. It has strong vitality and can effectively protect the water and soil of the roadbed from loss. It is also a tall and straight maple tree. , every time in late autumn when everything is desolate, it is like a bright red torch, guiding the way forward for passers-by deep in the mountains.

Passing through the Lingjiao Pavilion is the Great Assembly Ridge Ancient Road. At a glance, tourists are like crucian carp crossing the river, crowded shoulder to shoulder, bustling like a trade fair. The ancient path paved with granite strips, each step is about 1 meter wide, and is quite neatly repaired. Climb up the stairs and look out over the mountains and plains, with swaying red maples, green bamboos and fallen flowers everywhere, just like a natural oil painting of winter autumn.

There are many ancient maples that are hundreds of years old on both sides of the ancient road. Their trunks tower into the sky, their crowns block out the sky and the sun, and it takes two people to hug each other. Such old and majestic maple trees have never been seen before.

Under the golden sunshine, the shadows of the maple trees are whirling. The light yellow, bright red, green with yellow, and yellow with red maple leaves are clustered, spread flat, and extending from close to Far far away, as far as the horizon, it seems like a huge colorful brocade of clouds covering the high mountains.

The deep ancient roads and the colorful red maples give the Great Assembly Ridge its magic and beauty, attracting tourists to pick up their cameras or mobile phones to capture beautiful moments in the mottled light and shadow of the maple trees. When more than a thousand steps are placed behind you and you look up at the ridge head that connects with the sky, your physical strength and perseverance are faced with greater challenges. At this time, all the handsome guys who were walking with them looked at the ridge and sighed, hesitated, and retreated in fear of difficulties; but the beauties who usually seemed weak were full of energy, showing the heroic spirit of women, and continued to climb towards the top of the ridge, hoping to see more beautiful things. The maple forest scenery is a feast for the eyes.

The ancient road winds up and down, cutting straight into the ridge.

The ancient road in late autumn is not lonely. There are endless groups of tourists, with no end in sight and no end in sight. The crowds are loud and spectacular. I believe that this is people’s yearning for beauty, their longing for red leaves, and their love for nature. At this moment, my mind couldn't help but think of the figures of our ancestors. They carried heavy burdens on their shoulders to make a living. They walked alone in the lonely mountains with their hunched bodies, using their solid feet to measure the long distance step by step. Ancient roads... In the changes of time, the weather-beaten ancient roads of thousands of years, protected by maple trees, silently carry history and inherit civilization.

The ancient road is winding and winding. It’s a relaxing walk up the ancient road. When you reach the pavilion in the mountain, you feel out of breath and your legs and feet are sore. The old farmer selling refreshments told you that the whole journey from the foot of the ridge to the head of the ridge is about 30 minutes. 5 kilometers, there are about 4,500 steps, and we have only walked nearly half of the distance. After hearing this, Li Bai's poem "The road to Shu is difficult, it is difficult to climb to the sky" couldn't help but blurt out. At this time, there were beads of sweat on his face and his legs were as heavy as lead. He was hesitating whether to grit his teeth and persevere or turn back down the mountain. The tourists returning from the top of the mountain claimed that the scenery on the mountain was nothing special and there was nowhere to look for it. The intoxicating beauty of "frost leaves are as red as February flowers". I thought that the reason why the maple forest failed to show its most beautiful appearance may be due to the climate this year, or maybe we have missed the most beautiful point of the red maple trees. In this case, he used this as an excuse to retreat and return to the court.

Traveling on ancient roads and admiring maple trees is a hurried journey that only ends with a brief taste. I was not able to fully appreciate the majestic "maple scenery" where the forests in the Assembly Ridge are dyed and the mountains are red. I also didn't have the opportunity to see the intoxicating "maple love" where the maple leaves are as bright as flowers and as red as the clouds. It is a bit unfinished, but the ancient roads soaked in time, The powerful and magnificent ancient maple has been deeply imprinted in my mind. I wave goodbye to the ancient red maple trail and leave behind my thoughts of the fiery red maple leaves. I believe there will be another opportunity to listen to the late autumn song of the ancient red maple trail in my heart.